clayfu

gcdyersb wrote:I see what you're saying in terms of stylistic differences and (perhaps) one being intended for drinking in youth, the other requiring aging. But why shouldn't someone be able to compare one to the other and state a preference at a given time?

The way you phrased this makes you come off as pretentious instead of knowledgeable. If you really need the ego boost of discounting another person's opinion on an anonymous forum, then I'm not going to make any headway here.

i think you need to read the whole thing. He's stating that parker came off wrong on the review because he liked Titus more than Caymus. Which isn't a valid comparison on why he rated it wrong because these are not the same style wines.

I dont mind if he likes Titus more than Caymus, nor do I think people should not compare said wines for their own personal pleasure. The comment is specifically about his reference to RP's score.

Think what you'd like about me, but one should look in the mirror before attacking someone's character on assumptions of comments said on the internet. If you really need the ego boost of discounting another person's opinion on an anonymous forum, then I'm not going to make any headway here. ^_^

EmilyTitusVineyards

gcdyersb wrote:I see what you're saying in terms of stylistic differences and (perhaps) one being intended for drinking in youth, the other requiring aging. But why shouldn't someone be able to compare one to the other and state a preference at a given time?

The way you phrased this makes you come off as pretentious instead of knowledgeable. If you really need the ego boost of discounting another person's opinion on an anonymous forum, then I'm not going to make any headway here.

Wooters, Wooters let's see if I can take this down a couple of notches

Our Cab Sauv style is made in a traditional bordeaux-styled blend where each grape lends a pretty great role to completing and the full expression of the Cabernet Sauvignon varietal. We definitely pick our fruit super ripe, about 25.5-26.5 Brix on average, but through blending in complementary varietals our intention is to still come out with a balanced, not alcohol driven, wine.

Merlot softens the tannins that are otherwise pretty generous from both the Cab Sauv itself and also the generous addition of 13% Petite Verdot which also bumps up the color component and adds blackberry notes. Malbec adds sweet, red fruit notes that are great for complexity alongside the other dark fruit and chocolate/coffee notes that linger at the finish.

Hopefully this reveals a bit more about the wine style we're presenting to you now.

bhodilee

Our Cab Sauv style is made in a traditional bordeaux-styled blend where each grape lends a pretty great role to completing and the full expression of the Cabernet Sauvignon varietal. We definitely pick our fruit super ripe, about 25.5-26.5 Brix on average, but through blending in complementary varietals our intention is to still come out with a balanced, not alcohol driven, wine.

Merlot softens the tannins that are otherwise pretty generous from both the Cab Sauv itself and also the generous addition of 13% Petite Verdot which also bumps up the color component and adds blackberry notes. Malbec adds sweet, red fruit notes that are great for complexity alongside the other dark fruit and chocolate/coffee notes that linger at the finish.

Hopefully this reveals a bit more about the wine style we're presenting to you now.

So basically you're attempting to combine the drink it nowness of a fruitbomb with the aging potential of a more traditionally styled Cab? That's a heady goal.

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."

cheron98

Our Cab Sauv style is made in a traditional bordeaux-styled blend where each grape lends a pretty great role to completing and the full expression of the Cabernet Sauvignon varietal. We definitely pick our fruit super ripe, about 25.5-26.5 Brix on average, but through blending in complementary varietals our intention is to still come out with a balanced, not alcohol driven, wine.

Merlot softens the tannins that are otherwise pretty generous from both the Cab Sauv itself and also the generous addition of 13% Petite Verdot which also bumps up the color component and adds blackberry notes. Malbec adds sweet, red fruit notes that are great for complexity alongside the other dark fruit and chocolate/coffee notes that linger at the finish.

Hopefully this reveals a bit more about the wine style we're presenting to you now.

EmilyTitusVineyards

bhodilee wrote:So basically you're attempting to combine the drink it nowness of a fruitbomb with the aging potential of a more traditionally styled Cab? That's a heady goal.

Great comment. You know, I can't actually go fruit bomb on this one because that's never where this wine has been. The 2005 vintage/growing season really showed off what our vineyards can do and in saying that, it is less lush and more elegant in terms of varietal expression. So instead of getting knocked over the head with cherries, raspberries and blackberries, the "other" nuances in the herbal, coffee, toast categories really shine through equally.

I love my lush, concentrated wines, don't get me wrong, but I also have a wee bit of will power and quite enjoy drinking older vintage wines so want to see them go the distance and this vintage along with how this particular blend was comprised have a more than fair shot of accomplishing this.

If you're still with me, the other thing is that the time of this offer is fortuitous for all of you because this Cab is at a sweet spot right now - or at least that's what we're hearing back from our customers. It's been released for about a year (we're about to rollover into the new vintage) so has plenty of time to come into its own.

I actually recently came across this remark from Connoisseurs' Guide to CA Wine and thought it was a great summation about 2005 Cabs in general - "What is it about recent vintages that end in 5s? They have all produced cooler, longer harvests than the ripe years that directly preceded them, and their Cabernets have been tight, long-lived but often a bit underplayed. 2005 could have been just such a vintage, but its wines are deep, focused and wonderfully collectible."

Corrado

clayfu wrote:i think you need to read the whole thing. He's stating that parker came off wrong on the review because he liked Titus more than Caymus. Which isn't a valid comparison on why he rated it wrong because these are not the same style wines.

I dont mind if he likes Titus more than Caymus, nor do I think people should not compare said wines for their own personal pleasure. The comment is specifically about his reference to RP's score.

So Parker scored the Titus 89 and the Caymus 92-94. Parker is using the same set of criteria to rate both wines, so to a certain degree, you cannot discount the comparison.

I still don't see how the OP's opinion that Parker "missed" the Titus is invalid, regardless of style. The point I interpreted (which I'm guessing was a reply to your posting of the Parker rating) was that the OP'sopinion was that the Titus was 'better' the Caymus. Parker clearly disagreed. Whether the OP thought the Caymus was over-rated or the Titus just under-rated wasn't really clear.

Neither of them are necessarily 'right' to anyone other than themselves in terms of their "How good is it?' rating. Reading the reviewer's descriptions can help, but there's no substitute for first hand experience. In the case of Jonathan Newman, a name that FREQUENTLY comes up on 'that other site' seems to consistently rate EVERYTHING 4-6 points higher than other reviews I've found. Is he missing the boat, getting paid on the side for reviews, or just really likes anything red that's put down in front of him? (my hunch is the latter)

Without knowing one's palate, making a decision based on, "I liked A more than I like B," is really no different than trusting the lab rats... or anyone else you don't really know who recommends a wine. Short of tasting it yourself, the best you can hope for to read all the various opinions and comparisons and hope to come to some sort of mental palate-picture for what the wine will be. Then you either buy it & see who you agree with or don't buy it and sit in the corner and wait for the next thing to come up.

...and if you'll excuse me, I see a corner over there with my SIWBM-name on it.

clayfu

Corrado wrote:So Parker scored the Titus 89 and the Caymus 92-94. Parker is using the same set of criteria to rate both wines, so to a certain degree, you cannot discount the comparison.

I still don't see how the OP's opinion that Parker "missed" the Titus is invalid, regardless of style. The point I interpreted (which I'm guessing was a reply to your posting of the Parker rating) was that the OP'sopinion was that the Titus was 'better' the Caymus. Parker clearly disagreed. Whether the OP thought the Caymus was over-rated or the Titus just under-rated wasn't really clear.

I think you have to take it from different angles when you look at reviews. You compare one type of style (not necessarily region) v. another type of style. It's hard without having the "text" of the review, but I do believe it's necessary to view what's being written to show what style of wine it is. He's saying "the titus is not as good as this 91 point fruit forward wine" and "this caymus is better than lesser wines of the same style".

Parker doesn't blind taste his wines, he knows what he's drinking and he knows the style behind it. So no he's not using the same criteria. It's more like "is this a great example of this style of wine" not "is this a great example of Cab in general".

Just to type out an example

He drinks a wine. He notices it's a very ripe fruit forward wine, he compares it to the other fruit forward ripe wines he has and scores it on the basis of that. I mean perfection or greatness of wine comes from so many different types, as we all know it's almost fruitless (hehe) to compare wines of two starkly different styles.

I mean this guy is a pro, he has an amazing palate can we not give him some credit for being able to distinguish and compare wines based on style?

sidenote: I understand his preference is he liked the Titus more than the Caymus, but from my reading he was saying it deserved a higher score because he liked the titus more than the caymus. That's the point of my post.

platanutre

EmilyTitusVineyards wrote:Great comment. You know, I can't actually go fruit bomb on this one because that's never where this wine has been. The 2005 vintage/growing season really showed off what our vineyards can do and in saying that, it is less lush and more elegant in terms of varietal expression. So instead of getting knocked over the head with cherries, raspberries and blackberries, the "other" nuances in the herbal, coffee, toast categories really shine through equally.

I love my lush, concentrated wines, don't get me wrong, but I also have a wee bit of will power and quite enjoy drinking older vintage wines so want to see them go the distance and this vintage along with how this particular blend was comprised have a more than fair shot of accomplishing this.

If you're still with me, the other thing is that the time of this offer is fortuitous for all of you because this Cab is at a sweet spot right now - or at least that's what we're hearing back from our customers. It's been released for about a year (we're about to rollover into the new vintage) so has plenty of time to come into its own.

I actually recently came across this remark from Connoisseurs' Guide to CA Wine and thought it was a great summation about 2005 Cabs in general - "What is it about recent vintages that end in 5s? They have all produced cooler, longer harvests than the ripe years that directly preceded them, and their Cabernets have been tight, long-lived but often a bit underplayed. 2005 could have been just such a vintage, but its wines are deep, focused and wonderfully collectible."

If you keep writting reviews and info like this, I will be forced to break my holiday budget...

EmilyTitusVineyards

KryseeMac wrote:I know what you mean. It was the 'dark fruit and chocolate/coffee notes that linger at the finish' that got me but I am still resisting. My wallet can't take it either.

Who doesn't want something that finishes chocolate? I actually asked Phillip Titus about our chocolate finish and he said from a winemaking perspective, if your grape ripeness/maturity ideal is achieved, then the combination of using french oak and running a hotter than average fermentation often results in a noticeable chocolate character in the finished wine

kylemittskus

EmilyTitusVineyards wrote:Who doesn't want something that finishes chocolate? I actually asked Phillip Titus about our chocolate finish and he said from a winemaking perspective, if your grape ripeness/maturity ideal is achieved, then the combination of using french oak and running a hotter than average fermentation often results in a noticeable chocolate character in the finished wine

Please stop typing. The milk/dark chocolate characteristic in CS is what I crave and always look for in the CS I buy.

I think your wallet should not handle something else, it's nice to be reminded why we love wine and this just may be the example to do so. It's how most people have been introduced to us and I think it plays on two levels. I think it's an easy entry Cab because the tannins are very well integrated so you can get to the good stuff right away and if you're a fan of Napa Valley Cabs, this one definitely represents this category well. I know this offer is a bit of a big ask, especially by Woot standards, but in the big picture is a pretty great deal for estate, Napa Valley Cabs in general.

EmilyTitusVineyards

2n2is5 wrote:So if I were to buy this pack and put it in the cave for a few years, when is the ideal time to bring it out?

Winemakers hate this question, but I'm more than happy to give it a go. Now, I'm not sure how you like your wines. So only you will know whether this remark hits the spot or whether you'll need to make an adjustment based on your personal preferences regarding how you best enjoy older wines and why.

Based on its overall cellaring potential of 10-15 years and if you open a bottle and like the way it tastes now, I'd say 2013, about 8 years into it, would be a great time to enjoy this wine at likely peak performance before the fruit begins to fade and it continues to show more "evolved" characters. I would be very surprised, if long term this wine left you with body/structure only. Does this help?

jp9219

I probably would have convinced myself to jump in on this since I am so addicted to Cab's lately but with missing the 11 am deadline (by say 13 hours) for before Christmas, I can't get in...I'm getting the luxury of heading to Florida after the holidays and won't be around so my SIWBM can now begin because I won't be here to pick anything up Now, SWMBO will be happy with me for a little while! Hopefully, we will see this again in the new year or something very similar because I never want to miss out on a Napa cab!

spdrcr05

jp9219 wrote:I probably would have convinced myself to jump in on this since I am so addicted to Cab's lately but with missing the 11 am deadline (by say 13 hours) for before Christmas, I can't get in...I'm getting the luxury of heading to Florida after the holidays and won't be around so my SIWBM can no begin because I won't be here to pick anything up Now, SWMBO will be happy with me for a little while! Hopefully, we will see this again in the new year or something very similar because I never want to miss out on a Napa cab!

You know UPS will hold it for you after the first delivery attempt, right? All it takes is a phone call.

In periods of profound change, the most dangerous thing is to incrementalize yourself into the future -- Thomas Edision

cheron98

waacodemon wrote:If ive never had wine before, this a good one to start on? or should i look for cheaper stuff?

Thanks

Pretty much anything woot offers would be good to start on since the price is always so right - but this is one of the "pricier" ones (though still a damn good price). You've got to start somewhere to begin finding out what you like and don't like - RPM says "Pop lots of corks. Remember what you taste." That's pretty much it in a nutshell. You can find cheaper wines out there, for sure, to begin developing your palate and determining what you like.

Almost anything is a good wine to start on, really. Because again, you've got to start somewhere. Just not boxed wine or Boone's Farm And keep in mind that just because you have a bottle of some varietal and you find you don't like it, it doesn't necessarily mean you don't like that varietal - just that winemaker's interpretation of it. Or maybe you don't like the varietal But I would never not try something just based on the varietal.

Feel free to come join us in the CyberPub (click the community, then world of wine woot. Should be one of the top posts). We'll be glad to share insights and tips and answer any questions you have.

jp9219

Loweeel wrote:I don't need short just shorter than me (which is the overwhelming majority of women), or a redhead ;)

Unfortunately, we know she is short, red-headed, and intelligent. (I'm assuming the half would be the intelligent)...those are actually all 3 incredible traits in a woman...the lack of single though, would pose the biggest problem!

yumitori

cheron98 wrote:Almost anything is a good wine to start on, really. Because again, you've got to start somewhere. Just not boxed wine or Boone's Farm

Point of order, M'Lady Cheron. They are putting pretty good wines into boxes these days; better that the average cheap bottled plonk. You still have to know what to look for, of course...

Another option to consider is this week's Side Deal. Same price (even $5 less after shipping), but three varietals instead of one. The Titus will almost certainly be a better choice quality-wise, but the My Wines Direct offer is economical.

dgowdy

After recently spending a week and a half at Titus working on their 2008 Harvest broadcast, I was amazed at the price, quality, and taste of their wines compared to some of their neighbors on the Silverado Trail. We spent our Saturday afternoon visiting other wineries down the road, and there was absolutely no comparison when it came to the price/performance ratio of the Titus stable of wines. This offering may seem expensive but should be considered a value for the category this wine is in.

thetong

Also, to clear up my post, I felt that the Titus was a bit better than the 2005 Caymus Cab (not the special selection that Parker rated 92-94 points) that WS rated 92. Both are similarly styled wines (fruit forward, high alcohol, low acid). The special selection is a more structured and clearly built for longer cellaring (but it is also high in alcohol, albeit less fruit forward). That's not the wine I am referring to, though.

waacodemon

cheron98 wrote:Pretty much anything woot offers would be good to start on since the price is always so right - but this is one of the "pricier" ones (though still a damn good price). You've got to start somewhere to begin finding out what you like and don't like - RPM says "Pop lots of corks. Remember what you taste." That's pretty much it in a nutshell. You can find cheaper wines out there, for sure, to begin developing your palate and determining what you like.

Almost anything is a good wine to start on, really. Because again, you've got to start somewhere. Just not boxed wine or Boone's Farm And keep in mind that just because you have a bottle of some varietal and you find you don't like it, it doesn't necessarily mean you don't like that varietal - just that winemaker's interpretation of it. Or maybe you don't like the varietal But I would never not try something just based on the varietal.

Feel free to come join us in the CyberPub (click the community, then world of wine woot. Should be one of the top posts). We'll be glad to share insights and tips and answer any questions you have.

And welcome to wine.woot!

wow, much friendlier then other parts of woot XD haha

You mentioned like vareital and like...boone's farm.. and yea, im so new to this that i dont even know what any of those are XD

I just know a little wine a week is healthy and such, so i was debating on finding somewhere to start

bill501

In my wine drinking days ('70's), I was used to buying high end French Bordeaux's and Burgundy's. At that time for a good year, I would not think of drinking a wine less than 20 years old, it would have been barbaric ;-). The most glorious I had was a 1929 Chateau Margaux in 1979.

What is it about the California Cabs and Pinot Noir's that makes then drinkable at a much younger age?

toneyboy

EmilyTitusVineyards wrote:I think your wallet should not handle something else, it's nice to be reminded why we love wine and this just may be the example to do so. It's how most people have been introduced to us and I think it plays on two levels. I think it's an easy entry Cab because the tannins are very well integrated so you can get to the good stuff right away and if you're a fan of Napa Valley Cabs, this one definitely represents this category well. I know this offer is a bit of a big ask, especially by Woot standards, but in the big picture is a pretty great deal for estate, Napa Valley Cabs in general.

This is a GREAT deal on this Cab!! I bought one from the winerey back in Sept at $40 bottle. AND YES... This has a great finsh with all the chocolatey flavor mentioned!! Im in for another pair!

shh64

You mentioned like vareital and like...boone's farm.. and yea, im so new to this that i dont even know what any of those are XD

I just know a little wine a week is healthy and such, so i was debating on finding somewhere to start

Thanks for all the help people!! :D

My suggestion is that you find a good wine shop in your area, go in and find someone who works there. Let them know you are new to wine and interested in starting. Ask them to provide some suggestions (I would provide a price range, keep it low to start) and buy a few bottles. Go home and try them over a few nights. Go back, do it again...

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